


How Queer

by FandomStar



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Everyone Is Gay, Gen, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Minor Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Trans Male Character, Trans Wanda Maximoff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 21:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18558622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomStar/pseuds/FandomStar
Summary: Bruce Banner has been persuaded to join his high school's Gay-Straight Alliance, leading him to meet a lot of new people. This includes Thor Odinson, who turns Bruce's life around.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for the ThorBruce Big Bang, but it got cancelled, so I can post it now! I also was going to wait a week or two to post it, but I have exams next week and the week after.  
> So, a few bits that aren't really mentioned in the fic or I couldn't tag very specifically:  
> Thor is trans  
> Clint and Nat are in a Queer-Platonic Relationship  
> Peter (trans and bi), Ned (gay) and MJ (non-binary and pan) are the freshmen.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!

Bruce had no idea how Tony had managed to do this. Tony had somehow managed to persuade Bruce to go to the first Gay-Straight Alliance meeting of the year.

  
As they walked down the corridors to the room the GSA meet in, Bruce was wringing his hands anxiously. Noticing, Tony put a hand over his.

"Bruce, it's gonna be fine," he reassured his friend. "The guys here are cool. Stephen's gonna be there, and I'll bet you'll know some other people too."

Bruce nodded.

"Right," he murmured. "Right, probably."

Smiling, Tony moved his hand to Bruce's shoulder, before pointing at a door with a pride flag in the window.

* * *

When they went in, Bruce was surprised at how it wasn’t crowded. There was a fair amount of people, but they were all bundled in their own small groups.

"Tony!" a voice happily exclaimed.

A huge smile spread across Tony's face.

"Hey Strange!" he replied as his boyfriend pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Hi Bruce." Stephen greeted, seeming to finally notice Bruce.

"Hi." Bruce awkwardly replied.

When the couple started flirtily chatting, Bruce decided to get away. He found a wall to stick to and went to it. For a while, that was where he quietly stayed.

"Hello," a strongly accented voice gently said from behind him, making him jump as he turned. "My apologies, I didn't mean to startle you. I just recognized you."

Bruce stared at the person for a moment.

"Oh! Um, yeah, we have Spanish together, right?" he agreed. "Um, Bruce Banner."

"Thor, Thor Odinson." Bruce's companion replied, grinning and taking Bruce's hand firmly.

Shyly, Bruce smiled back.

"It's nice to meet you." he said a little nervously.

"Introductions are about to start," Thor told him. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Bruce murmured, watching as Thor went over to the other side of the room.

He wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about Thor. They were definitely gorgeous – long golden hair, tall, well-muscled, beautiful smile – but also very androgynous. Bruce wasn’t sure whether that should affect the attraction he felt or not.  
He went to find Tony so he could sit with him during the introductions.

* * *

"Hi, everyone! I’m Steve and I’m the leader of the Alliance this year," a buff blonde guy announced. "I'll start the introductions off. I’m Steve Rogers, I’m bi and I’m the captain of the football team."

Steve nodded at a guy with long, dark hair who was sat next to him.

“Hi. Bucky Barnes. I’m bisexual and I've been with this guy for far too long!” Bucky told the group, ending with an affectionately pointed look at Steve.

It was Thor next.

“Hello! My name is Thor Odinson. I’m a trans guy and am also bisexual. I like Norse mythology, which pleases my dad.”

Bruce found himself smiling as he relaxed, now knowing that he didn’t have to question himself all over again.

“I’m Loki Odinson. I’m genderfluid and pansexual. I’m partial to pulling pranks.”

As the introductions continued around the circle, Bruce became more anxious. It was nearly his turn to introduce himself. Tony looked at him to prompt him to speak.

“Um,” Bruce nervously started, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I’m Bruce Banner, I’m gay and I’m also, um… a nerd?”

Bruce closed his eyes and breathed deeply. When he felt Tony's hand on his shoulder, he looked at his best friend.

“That was great.” Tony whispered encouragingly.

“I told them I’m a nerd.” Bruce whispered back.

“There's nothing wrong with being a nerd.”

“They all think I'm a nerd.”

“Bruce, you _are_ a nerd!”

“They don't need to know that!”

“Most of us are nerds! Thor's mythology, Steve and Bucky are history, I’m computers and engineering, Nat knows a scary amount of stuff about guns and torture, see where I'm going?”

Sighing, Bruce nodded. Quietly, he listened to the rest of the introductions.

* * *

Tony was saying hi to the freshmen, which left Bruce on his own, watching everyone.

“Hi, again.” a distinctive voice cheerfully greeted.

Sharply, Bruce looked up at the person before belatedly realizing it was Thor. He relaxed.

“Oh. Hi,” he replied. “Why are you over here?”

Thor smiled a little crookedly.

“I don’t like seeing interesting people looking lonely.” He said, casually, sliding to the floor next to Bruce.

Feeling his cheeks grow warm, Bruce looked away.

“I’m not as interesting as you seem to think I am,” he insisted. “And I'm not lonely.”

“Maybe you aren't interesting to other people, but there's something about you that I seem drawn to,” Thor told him, looking a bit nervous. “I also know what loneliness looks like. And it's written all over you.”

Bruce leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to take deep breaths and willing himself not to cry. When he felt a tear trickle over his cheek, he berated himself for showing this part of himself to Thor when they'd only met half an hour ago.

"Oh, god! I didn't mean to make you-" Thor murmured in a panic. He rummaged through his pockets. When he didn’t find anything, he groaned in frustration and placed a gentle hand on Bruce's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Bruce's first thought was to say no, and insist it was nothing. But then he hesitated. The only person who knew about his dad was Tony, and even then Bruce had only told him because it had been an emergency. But maybe he should tell someone else. Besides, he didn't have to tell Thor everything.

"My dad is the most homophobic ass you could ever meet," Bruce told Thor, trying to be as straight-faced as possible. "One of the worst things he did was actually nothing to do with me. He was saying some really, truly nasty stuff about Tony one evening. I defended him and we argued.” Bruce left out the physical part of that argument. “He kicked me out of the house and I ended up staying at Tony's for two nights, ironically."

A little awkwardly, Thor hugged Bruce, gently.

"That's not all, is it?" he carefully and quietly asked.

Seeing no point in lying, Bruce shook his head against the blonde's shoulder.

"If you ever want to talk to someone other than Tony about it, I know we've only just met, but I’m here," Thor gently told him, before Bruce pulled away. "Do you mind if I have your phone for a minute?"

Bruce unlocked his phone and passed it over. As Thor typed something, Bruce peered over.

"My number," he explained, passing Bruce's phone back with the contact 'God of Thunder' open, making Bruce smile a little. "You can give me yours, too, if you want."

Bruce took Thor's offered phone and typed his number into a new contact. He stared at the empty ID, trying to remember what Tony had him as in his contacts. He couldn't remember. After thinking for a moment, he typed 'Bruce Ban The Science Man' into the ID and handed the phone back to Thor. When Thor's face lit up in a silent laugh, Bruce felt his chest lighten and smiled back.

They chatted for a while about nothing.

"Hey, Bruce," Tony called, jogging over. "Hate to break you up, but I need to skedaddle, so if you still need a lift…"

"Right. I'll be with you." Bruce told him, standing up.

Thor got to his feet next to him.

"It was great meeting you." he told Bruce.

"You, too," Bruce agreed. "I'll see you around."

As he walked away with Tony, he looked over his shoulder, and Thor waved. Smiling, Bruce waved back.

* * *

"So, you made a new friend." Tony commented, teasingly.

"Yeah, I guess." Bruce agreed, feeling himself blush a little.

"Did you get his number?" Tony casually enquired.

"He gave it to me, yeah." Bruce replied, glaring half-heartedly at Tony.

Briefly, Tony looked at Bruce with a massive grin.

"You and Thor Odinson! That would be awesome if it happened." he said to no-one in particular, still grinning.

"Shut up." Bruce told him, as he smiled out of the window.

After another five minutes, the car rolled to a stop.

"We're here," Tony announced. "C'mere."

He wrapped his arms around his best friend.

"Thank you for this afternoon." Bruce whispered.

"Didn’t think you'd be saying that," Tony replied, before telling him seriously, "Be careful, okay?"

Bruce nodded, before getting out of the car and preparing himself as he walked up the driveway.


	2. Chapter 2

“Hola, amigo. Do you mind if I sit here?” a familiar accent asked Bruce in his first period Spanish class.

Knowing who it was, Bruce didn’t look up but cleared his bag off the chair beside him.

“No. Sure, you can sit here if you want,” he told Thor. “Which no-one usually wants to do, so that’s why that’s my bag’s usual chair.”

Thor smiled.

“I know,” he replied. “But no longer! I’m your friend now, so you must put up with me in our Spanish class!”

“Oh, the horror!” Bruce laughed, sarcastically.

The pair grinned at each other, and Bruce felt a happy warmth make its home in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

Bruce had decided to stay in the library after school that day. With his physics books spread over table and his notebooks in front of him, he was ready to start a new study page when he heard a voice from above him.

“Wow! You look busy!” a familiar Norwegian accent remarked, making Bruce jump.

Bruce didn’t know when he’d started thinking of Thor’s voice as familiar.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Thor apologized, before gesturing to the chair opposite Bruce. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

“No, of course! Please do!” Bruce assured him. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

As he sat in the chair, Thor chuckled.

“Loki made us miss the bus again.” he explained, a grin spread across his face.

“Again?” Bruce asked, laughing.

Thor raised his eyebrows, before something caught his eye.

“Speak of the devil,” he murmured mischievously, before calling out, “Loki, my beloved sister!”

A raven haired girl in a black t-shirt and a long, flowing green skirt was standing beside a bookshelf with a hefty, hardback book in her hands. Giving Thor a withering look, she snapped the book closed.

“What is it you want, my adored brother?” Loki asked Thor, exasperated.

Thor grinned, brightly.

“You remember Bruce, don’t you?” he asked in return. “From the Alliance meeting?”

“Of course, how could I forget with you talking about him all the time?” Loki replied as she dropped into the chair next to Thor, her response prompting Thor’s cheeks to turn pink. “Loki, Thor’s sister. For now.”

Nervously, Bruce smiled.

“I remember you.” he said.

To distract himself from the unexpected presence at the table, Bruce flipped through the pages of one of his physics textbooks to find a page that correlated with his current subject. When he did, he picked a pen at random (an orange fineliner) and started jotting notes down.

“I’ve got better things to do than sit around with you.” Loki grumbled to Thor, before leaving the table.

The two boys were silent for a while.

“I’m sorry,” Thor eventually said. “I didn’t realize you’d be so uncomfortable.”

Noting the slightly challenging note in Thor’s voice, Bruce replied immediately.

“It’s fine. I’m just… not good with new people,” Bruce explained. “Especially when I’m not expecting to meet them.”

Thor raised his eyebrows.

“What about me? I’m new.” he pointed out.

Bruce narrowed his scrutinizing eyes.

“You’re safe. I trust you. I don’t know why, because I’ve only known you for four days, but I do,” he told Thor. “And I like you.”

Ducking his flushed face, he tried to go back to writing, but Thor reached forward to hold the hand that Bruce was clutching his pen in. Startled and a little scared, Bruce looked up at Thor’s soft smile.

“I like you, too,” Thor said, quietly, before taking his hand away from Bruce’s. “Sorry. I distracted you. I’ll let you get back to it.”

Suddenly, Bruce was worried that he was going to leave, but he bent down and straightened up with his hands gripping a book that looked about a thousand pages long. When he placed it carefully on the table, Bruce noticed a silver engraving of the Norse god Thor’s hammer on the cover. Bruce remembered Thor mentioning his interest in Norse mythology at the Gay-Straight Alliance meeting. When Thor glanced up at him, Bruce gave him a small smile which was returned. They then, respectively, started reading and got back to writing.

* * *

“Wait, you spent two hours with Thor after school?” Tony exclaimed in disbelief.

Bruce winced at the volume of Tony’s voice.

“Be quiet!” he demanded, before replying with, “Yes. It was a sudden decision on my part and missing the bus on his. I had no idea he was going to be there.”

“So, what happened?” Tony asked, the beginnings of a smile on his face.

Between mouthfuls of his lunch, Bruce gave Tony a brief outline of what happened. Tony nodded.

“Anything else?” he prompted, his eyebrows wiggling.

For a moment, Bruce glared at him, knowing exactly what that meant. He sighed in defeat.

“We had a moment. Possibly several, but definitely one,” he told Tony, putting a fry in his mouth as he looked around. “Where’s Stephen?”

“Ill,” Tony informed him, looking over Bruce’s shoulder. “Speaking of guys we’re attracted to, here’s Thor.”

Bruce peered over his shoulder and smiled when he saw Thor. Seeing him almost immediately, Thor beamed at him and waved. Shyly, Bruce waved back, before turning around and being on the receiving end of Tony’s smirk and raised eyebrow. Bruce whacked his friend’s outstretched arm.

“No.” he firmly said, a smile threatening his lips.

Tony shrugged innocently, as Thor appeared at Bruce’s side.

“Do you mind if I join you?” Thor asked.

“Sure!” Tony enthusiastically replied, before Bruce could even look to him for approval of his own response.

Thor daintily sat beside Bruce. As they sat eating, Bruce casually said, in Spanish, how awful the school meals were. Thor grinned and agreed, also in Spanish, leaving Tony, who wasn’t learning Spanish, looking completely bewildered. Catching onto Tony’s lack of understanding, Thor told Bruce that cats smelled like strawberries. Bruce responded by stating that books were like trees but flatter. Their Spanish sentences got stranger and stranger. After five minutes, Tony was begging them to stop whilst they were giggling.  
It was the most fun time Bruce remembered having at lunch for a while.

* * *

Thor carried on joining Bruce and Tony for lunch that week. It was on Friday that Tony announced, hesitantly, that he couldn’t be at Monday’s Gay-Straight Alliance meeting, leaving Bruce – who had actually planned on going again and had been looking forward to it – with no way of getting home.

“What? Why can’t you go?” he demanded.

“I’m grounded,” Tony explained, not meeting Bruce’s eyes. “I can’t drive anywhere except to and from school during school hours.”

“Why? What happened?”

Tony was silent and the air was filled with feelings of guilt, and shame, and regret. Quickly, Bruce figured out what Tony had done, making him sit up straighter with his eyes narrowed dangerously.

“No. Tony, you promised me that wouldn’t happen again! You promised me!”

Thor startled at the anger in Bruce’s voice and shuffled towards the end of the bench when he realized that this was a personal Bruce-Tony thing.

“I know, Bruce, and I’m so sorry,” Tony groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I just… I couldn’t once I started. I know it was stupid to start, but the stuff was right there, and I didn’t want to be rude…”

“Rude?” Bruce raged. “People can get hurt when someone drinks too much! You know that as well as I do! You also know that there’s no such thing as just one glass when you get drinking! I don’t understand why you do it to yourself. To me.”

After a moment, Tony murmured something about classes and left.

Cautiously, Thor lifted his head to look at Bruce.

“I probably wasn’t supposed to hear any of that, and as far as anyone else is concerned, I didn’t,” he carefully said. “But if you still want to go to the Alliance meeting on Monday, I’d be happy to drive you home.”

Startled, Bruce’s unguarded gaze snapped to meet Thor’s. Apologetically, Thor averted his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“Are you serious?” Bruce quietly asked, gazing at Thor’s profile, temporarily ignoring how beautiful he looked. “About giving me a lift?”

Thor slowly turned to meet Bruce’s eyes, a small, somewhat awkward smile on his face.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” he replied.

Bruce shyly returned his smile.

“Then I think I might take you up on your offer,” he told Thor. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

Grinning, Thor shook his head.

“Of course it isn’t.”


	3. Chapter 3

Monday afternoon came, and Bruce was both nervous and excited. Most of his nerves were reserved for what would happen when he had to go home with Thor, leaving his excitement for the Gay-Straight Alliance meeting. A definite improvement from the week before! When Bruce entered the classroom, Thor was with Loki and a boy and a girl Bruce vaguely remembered from the first GSA meeting. Cheerfully, Thor waved and beckoned him over. Without hesitation, Bruce made his way over to the group.

“Bruce! You remember Wanda and Pietro from last week, don’t you?” Thor asked, still grinning, putting names to the faces.

“Yeah, hi.” Bruce greeted, awkwardly.

For the next fifteen minutes, he listened intently to the conversation about the president’s latest failure to protect trans people, learning that Wanda was transgender. Occasionally, Bruce caught Thor’s gaze on him. When he did, Bruce blushed and gave him a small smile, and Thor mirrored both gestures. One time, though, Thor’s eyes rested on Bruce’s neck for a moment, confusing Bruce.

“I need the bathroom,” Thor said after about five minutes, glancing nervously at Bruce. “Could you come with me?”

Obliviously, Bruce figured he was probably wary of being called out for using the guys’ bathroom, so he nodded and walked with Thor, but not without noticing the suspicious look Loki gave them, his eyes narrowed. Because of his obliviousness, Bruce was surprised when Thor turned to face him in front of the sinks in the bathroom.

“I wanted you to know that you can tell me about it,” Thor said to Bruce, seemingly out of nowhere. “Even if you don’t want to talk about… it. I’m here.”

Bruce frowned, his eyebrows furrowing.

“What do you mean?” he questioned. “I don’t think I know what you’re talking about, Thor.”

Cautiously, Thor reached out and touched the base of Bruce’s neck. When he flinched from the contact, Bruce blinked in shock. He turned to look in the mirror and was surprised to see a purple bruise peeking out from under the collar of his sweater.

“Oh,” he breathed. “I forgot about that.”

Considering Thor had already seen it, Bruce didn’t try to cover it up. He didn’t meet Thor’s eyes, though, not wanting to see the pity or concern they’d likely contain. He heard Thor gently sigh.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything,” Thor whispered. “I’m just… I was just worried about you.”

“I know. It’s fine, really,” Bruce quietly replied, before hesitantly asking, “Do you want to know why it’s there?”

“Only if you want to tell me.” Thor said.

“There’s no point not telling you, not if you’re going to be close to me,” Bruce hesitantly told him. “It’s my dad.”

For a moment, Thor was absolutely silent.

“Oh,” he murmured, before saying, “That’s not good, Bruce.”

“I know.” Bruce reluctantly replied.

“That’s… that’s pretty bad.” Thor added.

“I know!” Bruce repeated, snappily, before sighing and telling Thor, “Don’t say anything. No-one can know. I only have to get through another year and a bit, then I can leave, move in with Tony or find my own place. Please. Please don’t tell anyone.”

Reluctantly, Thor sighed and nodded.

“I won’t,” he promised, but added, “But I think you should.”

The topic seemingly forgotten, he peered over Bruce’s head at the bathroom door.

“I need to get out of this,” he told Bruce, indicating his t-shirt. “Could you make sure no-one comes in and… help me if I get stuck?”

A little baffled, Bruce frowned slightly but nodded, turning his back. When he heard Thor cough a few times, Bruce turned slightly. A grey piece of clothing next to one of the sinks caught Bruce’s eye as Thor adjusted his t-shirt.

“It’s a binder,” Thor explained, seeing where Bruce’s gaze was directed. “It makes my chest flat.”

“Oh, right!” Bruce said, understanding. “That makes sense! Sorry, I never really did much looking up on the trans community.”

Thor laughed good-naturedly.

“Quite understandable,” he reassured Bruce with a smile, before pointing at the door. “Are you ready to go back out?”

After pulling at his collar to cover the bruise, Bruce nodded with a returning smile. Thor held the door open for him, and they walked side-by-side back to the room, almost touching. When they got there, the red-headed senior girl, Natasha, came over to them.

“Hi. Bruce, wasn’t it?” she asked Bruce, who warily nodded. “Cap was wondering if you wanted to come and meet us seniors, considering you’re new to the group.”

Nervously, Bruce worried at his lip slightly, before seeing Thor’s encouraging smile.

“Um… I… guess I could.” he uncertainly agreed.

A corner of Natasha’s mouth raised in a half smile.

“Cool. Come on.”

* * *

Bruce spent some time with Steve Rogers, his boyfriend Bucky, Nat (who was aromantic and asexual), Clint Barton (also asexual and very close to Nat) and Sam Wilson, who was pansexual and Steve’s best friend. Bruce tried to let them get to know him as much as he could, and got to know them in return, and he didn’t completely freak out, which counted as a win.

When he found himself getting tired, he excused himself from the group and almost walked straight into Thor.

“Bruce! I was just coming to find you,” Thor told Bruce. “Are you ready to leave?”

Nodding, Bruce fell into step beside him.

“Yeah, thanks,” he replied, as Thor rested an arm around his shoulders. “Is Loki not coming with us?”

“No, he’s staying with Wanda and Pietro tonight.” Thor explained.

“Okay,” Bruce murmured, before looking up at Thor. “Just us, then?”

“Just us.” he confirmed with an uncharacteristically shy smile.

* * *

The car journey was comfortably silent. When Bruce recognized the corner of his street, he gently tapped Thor’s arm.

“Just… just drop me off here.” he told Thor.

Without a sound, Thor nodded and pulled over. The pair sat in the car, not saying a word until Thor gently rested a hand on Bruce’s knee. Slightly startled, Bruce gazed at his companion with widening eyes.

“If… if I asked… would you go on a date with me?” Thor asked, not looking at Bruce, just keeping his blue gaze on his hand.

A breath left Bruce’s mouth. He’d been wanting this to happen and dreading the moment it did. A part of him ecstatic that it had happened, yet also terrified. Nervously and cautiously, Bruce pressed a hand to the elegant one on his knee belonging to Thor. When Thor raised his eyes at the touch, Bruce took a deep breath before leaning forward to softly touch their lips together. After a few seconds, Thor kissed him back, but Bruce pulled away soon after.

“I want to. I really, really want to,” he admitted. “We could. If we were subtle. If we weren’t too open at school.”

“We could do it,” Thor agreed, not taking his eyes off Bruce. “If you want this enough to take the risk.”

“I do,” Bruce told him, before suggesting, “We could go for coffee. After school. We could meet in the library.”

“That sounds good,” Thor agreed. “You should get home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. I’ll text you.” Bruce replied, smiling.

Brightly, Thor beamed at him as he got out of the car and closed the door. As Thor drove away, Bruce gave a little wave. When he was out of sight, Bruce grinned broadly in silent celebration, before schooling his expression as he made his way up the street towards his house.


	4. Chapter 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~3 MONTHS LATER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks before the holiday break, the Gay-Straight Alliance was having a movie night at Steve’s house. Tony had agreed to chauffeur his friends, starting with Stephen, who was sitting in the front seat when the car got to the corner of Bruce’s street.

“Hi guys.” Bruce said as he slid to sit behind Tony’s seat.

Stephen and Tony returned the greeting. The car stereo was humming David Bowie, something Bruce and Stephen had managed to bond over, as they made their way to the Odinsons’ house. Almost as soon as they pulled up to the house, Thor sprinted down the steps, Loki following at a slower pace, looking slightly awkward in a skirt shorter than her usual length.

“Hello, my friends!” Thor boomed cheerfully, as he pulled the car door open and slid to sit next to Bruce and kiss his cheek.

Tony grinned into the backseat.

“Hey, Thor, hey, Lo!” he greeted in response.

As she closed the door, Loki smiled slightly at Tony. Happily, Bruce rested his head on Thor’s shoulder.

“Stop acting like you haven’t seen each other all day!” Stephen teasingly snapped at them.

“Hey, don’t diss the OTP!” Tony laughed, before joining in with the teasing and saying, “Keep it PG, though, we have a small person in the car.”

“Oi!” Loki indignantly said, looking up from her phone.

The other four teenagers laughed, and Thor rested an arm across his sister’s shoulders. Looking around the car, Bruce saw all of the people he loved most smiling and having a good time, and realized that, for the first time in a very, very, long time, he was absolutely happy.

* * *

When the group got to Steve’s house, they were shown in by the guy himself. Nat looked up from her place on the sofa beside Clint.

“Hi, everyone.” she greeted, before nudging Clint to get his attention.

It finally became clear that he hadn’t noticed, so Nat whacked the back of his head. He glanced up at her from his phone. Through their eye contact, Clint seemed to get the message that more people had arrived.

“Oh, hey.” he greeted, belatedly.

He threw an arm around Nat so they could make space on the sofa. Bruce had never understood Clint and Nat’s relationship, but never pried because he figured that he didn’t need to understand it.

Stephen and Tony arranged themselves in the space next to Nat and Clint whilst Steve went to check on Bucky and Sam in the kitchen, leaving Thor and Bruce to get comfortable in the remaining loveseat, the other one occupying Wanda, Loki and Pietro. Peter, Ned and MJ, the freshman, were sprawled on the floor, whispering between themselves. Thor gently placed his head on top of Bruce’s.

“Hi.” he said, a teasing smile evident in his voice.

Smiling back, Bruce leaned into his boyfriend.

“Hey.” He whispered.

“I love you.” Thor softly told Bruce, nuzzling his hair.

Bruce tilted his head and pressed a short kiss to Thor’s lips.

“I love you, too.” he quietly replied.

When Steve, Bucky and Sam came in from the kitchen with tray of food being carried by Bucky and Sam, everyone turned to look at them.

“Who’s ready to watch the gayest episodes of Stephen Universe?” Steve gleefully demanded, and was met by resounding cheers of affirmation.

* * *

By quarter to nine, they were about halfway through Love Simon. Bruce was curled up against Thor, who had an arm wrapped around him. When it came to the scene of Simon talking to his dad after he came out, though, Bruce felt something pull in his chest. Maybe it was hopelessness, perhaps just sadness – Bruce didn’t know. He buried his face into Thor’s soft shirt when his eyes began to sting.

“Bruce. Bruce, it’s okay,” Thor whispered reassuringly, rubbing Bruce’s shoulder. “You have us. We’re your family now. We all care about you.”

“I know.” Bruce murmured into Thor’s shoulder.

Gently, Thor kissed the top of Bruce’s head.

“Good.”

After a moment, Bruce asked, “Can I stay at your place tonight?”

“Of course you can.” Thor agreed.

Wrapping his arms around him, Bruce hugged Thor closer to him.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I love you.”

Smiling, Thor kissed him gently.

“I know. I love you, too.”


End file.
